Illustrator of the Day: Jonathan Bartlett

ADC Member says there's no ceiling on his job.

It’s the last week of November, and that means it’s also the last week of Illustration Month here at ADC. The ADC Blog continues to celebrate the illustrators within the ADC community with our Illustrator of the Day series. Some are professionals, some are students, and some just draw for fun. All of them are card-carrying members of ADC.

Our bow-tied gentleman below is our next featured member: a Brooklyn-based illustrator who never gives up “the human element.”

Almost every kid likes to draw. When did it become more than just a kindergarten project for you? How was that interest nurtured?

I guess art never “became more”; it just never lost its amazement for me. I didn’t consciously decide to keep making pictures when I was a kid, I just kept making them. I didn’t consider it to be the stuff of careers until a few years into college, however.

How much of your ability is self-taught versus through schooling?

Self-teaching and school go hand in hand; you can’t simply rely on your teachers, but on a basic level, I took plenty of schooling (undergrad/Masters) and can’t emphasize enough how much I learned.

How would you best describe your illustration style? Would you say that you had a specialty?

My way of making pictures really developed organically, there was never a moment that I said “I want to look like that”. If I had to label it, I’d say I make bold commercial images that never give up the human element.

Being that my work is grounded in a reality, but walks the line of conceptual and narrative, It is versatile enough to be applicable across a range of markets and clients. It’s something I love most, that is the diversity of projects I’m able to work on.

“I like to find the creativity in most things I do, even if not considered an artistic act in and of itself.”

What’s your weapon of choice? Any particular brands or models you swear by?

I do all of my drawing with 2B pencils and all of the coloring with Photoshop.

What other artistic passions do you have?

I like to find the creativity in most things I do, even if not considered an artistic act in and of itself.

At the end of the day, what do you love most about being an illustrator?

The freedom to truly believe that I can get better and achieve more each time I “go to work”. There is no ceiling on this job.